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That old Labour warrior Roy Hattersley returned to the scrimmage today in an article written in the Guardian with his views on the inevitability of the EU Super state.

His article is based on the thoughts of Professor Stephen Haseler a leading advocate of a British republic and champion for an EU Super state.

He says on the EU..

“The world’s largest economy with a stable common currency and a successful single market is, he rightly argues, bound to pursue policies that conflict with the interests of the US.

That makes the two “superpowers” competitors but not enemies. It also means that “core Europe” - the Franco-German alliance which Britain should join and make into a troika - is certain to lead the way towards distinctive defence and foreign policies”.

OK so far if you agree with the EU which the Professor obviously does, but then Lord Hattersley comments.

“Only people who share the Bush belief that America has a divine right to global supremacy can complain about that”.

No Sir Roy, people who live in an EU state who voted for a trading block in 1972, and have since then had the rest of the EU foisted on them, without the chance to have a say would these people would also object to that.

It is oh so, common among Europhiles to make bland statements to support their cause which defines the opposition as something it is not, we see this all the time in all sorts of ways, put up an argument subscribe it to the EUsceptic and then demolish or belittle it.

So those of us who do not want to join the Euro, do not want to give up our power to protect ourselves, and want to retain the rights enshrined in our Constitution to elect and reject our government, and can see the real dangers in this undemocratic EU. We are all only taking this attitude, because we share the unproven case, that Bush believes America has a divine right to global supremacy. Hog wash Professor and Sir Roy.

A report in the Telegraph today “Restaurant charges ‘confuse customers” caught my eye there was little else worth mentioning, apart from the opening of the Labour fest in Brighton.

The Chancellor Gordon Brown`s determination not to be frozen out, oh and Labour will seek to show it is “reconnecting” with hard-working families by announcing plans for low-cost housing for first-time buyers, extending affordable child care and ending “dead-end” job schemes for teenagers.

Do any of us believe any of this any more? New Labour has been in power for nearly two terms, we know what they are and where they are going. If New Labour wanted to connect with hard working families they would have started to do so already, so an appeal to their core vote with such promises of low cost housing is not going to cut much ice, what on earth does affordable child care mean; New Labour have been mucking about with this since they came to power, does it really take that long! Of course much of the affordable child care that did exist has disappeared under this administration, as those units are having to face every increasing burdens of state interference.

After introducing “dead end job schemes” for teenagers and proudly defending the “dead end job schemes” from all of us who said they were “dead end job schemes” to enable New Labour to proclaim falling unemployment figures, now they are going to end “dead end job schemes”

But I digress, well slightly, because what the above shows that is that nanny is alive and well and living in Westminster, self-determination and standing on your own two feet are not part of government plans.

So we come to Albert Hampson, business manager at AA Hotel Services, who said: “Many establishments automatically add a service charge to the bill, but tell the customer it is optional. Diners find it hard to complain and once a charge is on the bill many prefer just to pay up and not make a fuss”
This is in my neck of the woods so to speak, as I have spent a good few years in catering, I do know a little bit about the industry.

The AA is a little late in the field, for years now the Good Food Guide has made it clear in their entries which restaurants do, and which do not make a charge for service. The good food guide also indicate which have a practice of leaving the total of the bill open to allow? Customers to add a tip if they wish. It may also have escaped The AA notice but a few years ago Lord Bradford, himself a restaurant owner had tried to have the practice of putting a service charge on the bill banned or was it tipping or both because as “The guide also says there is a difference between the service charge, which may be kept by restaurant owners, and a tip, which usually goes to the waiter who may then give some to kitchen staff” ha and pigs might fly.

On reading the report it seems the AA is not asking for this practice to be banned but want to see all restaurants have the same policy “We want to see a common practice. This will provide clarity and transparency for the customer and present the industry in a better light.” Said an AA spokesman.

According to a survey published yesterday “One in five restaurants adds a charge to the bill, but the rates vary”, and this is, of course confusing the poor customer who does not understand. “The inconsistent way in which service charge is applied and the different rates used by restaurants is too confusing for the consumer.”
What is confusing about seeing an item on the bill you have not ordered? If I, or to be precise my wife sees such an item she deducts from the total.

The practice of charging people for something we have not sold is not acceptable end of story. In my restaurant I work out how much I need to charge a customer for the food and drink to hopefully make a profit, that charge includes the fact that I have wages to pay, I do not then add a further charge for service, service is implicit when dining in a restaurant.

Any tips my staff do, or do not get is between them and their customer, I have no part to play in that transaction. I do not know what if anything they take in tips and I do not want to know.

I also do not want the AA the Good Food Guide or any of the guides telling me or getting the government to tell me that I must make a charge. This will by necessity add to my costs of operation, and to my customer’s costs. I have better things to do on my day off than having to work out how much each person is entitled to deduct the necessary tax and issue the staff their allotted share and record all transactions of this ill gotten gain.

It is also absolutely nothing to do with an independent restaurant guide that is in the business of selling books to the public, it is not an instrument of state control or a pressure group out to improve standards, it is a book seller no more and no less.

The only sensible thing is for the practice of adding a service charge to the bill is to outlaw it.

This is just more of the nanny coming out in our society, we no longer it seems have the ability to think for ourselves, to make our own decisions in life, and must be coddled and protected from cradle to grave.

And what has any of this to do with the EU; nothing at all, I just thought I would write about something I understood for a change.